How to Write a Novel Without Fluff

You probably read this title and thought to yourself: how to write a novel without fluff? What is fluff?

All of us readers have been there. You’re reading a book and are stuck on a part (or parts) that just drone on and on and on. The writer drags on describing the scenery and other mundane details or maybe they go on a tangent about the character’s thoughts and feelings.

You may think you’re being artistic. You may think you’re being creative. You may think you’re a genius wordsmith and these boring, heavily detailed parts are a work of art.

Guess what?

THAT IS FLUFF!

What is fluff? This is actually a term used in professional web writing and blogging (which is what I do for a living).

Fluff is invaluable content. Examples of fluff include:

Common sense facts
Anything unclear or lacking meaning
Unnecessary details

And anything that’s absolutely boring and dull, making your readers close your book.

I’ve read books where the crazy amount of fluff drives me mad — so I toss the book.

Sure, you’re probably looking at me as some amateur self-published author (I take that with pride, thank you very much).

“What does she know about anything?” You crafty wordsmiths are probably asking yourselves.

Well, I have eight years of experience as a professional web writer. Trust me, fluff is drilled into our brains — from both the editors and the clients. Fortunately, those crazy editor comments and client article rejections taught me a thing or two about writing high-quality content. Only focus on what’s important, leaving the fluff and nonsense out. And these lessons came in handy when I wrote my book, Dissecting House.

Here’s how to write your novel without fluff.

Kill Your Darlings

This is technically Stephen King’s advice, but all writers need to live by this rule.

What King means by “kill your darlings” is to cut out the stylistic and descriptive mumbo jumbo that so many writers slave over. You want to describe your character’s hair flowing in the wind so creatively. You want to use every action word in the dictionary to describe a fight scene.

You have to think about your readers when writing your book. And they will more than likely hate these highly descriptive parts.

How do you know which “darlings” belong? Read these sentences in context with the scene. Do your darlings really add value? Do they flow with the story well? If not, axe them.

A 9^th Grader Should Read Your Book With No Problem

Yes, a 9th grader should be able to read your Baroque-era historical fantasy novel — or whatever you’re writing.

Why is that? You would like all readers to easily read and comprehend what you’re writing.

Take little Stephanie, as an example. I was never into young adult fiction when I was at the prime young adult age (except for Harry Potter). So, I always gravitated toward the books outside of that category. But some of those books were too wordy and contained too many words I didn’t recognize. While I loved the story, the actual writing was difficult for me to comprehend at that age.

Writing for a 9^th grade age group doesn’t only help broaden your reader-base. Your readers will be absorbed in your story and you’ll always have a devoted reader — no matter how many books you release in the future.

The key to writing a 9^th grader-friendly book is to write with shorter sentences, refraining from technical jargon, writing in the active voice, and avoiding adverbs. If you’re stuck, use a helpful tool such as Hemingway App. It’s free — I use it for all of my writing, both fiction and web writing.

The exception is if you’re writing for a niche audience. For example, many sci-fi books contain scientific jargon. While you can still keep sentences short and in the active voice, there’s not much you can do about the scientific jargon that’s integral to your story.

Hook the Reader in Immediately

How often have you opened a book and the first page is really boring? Or the first chapter is really long? That doesn’t really get you excited to read the rest of the book, now does it?

In web writing, one of the most common places writers use fluff is in the introduction. Writers know the argument they will make and the points they will make to prove it. But starting the article? Ehhh…let’s just string some words together and hope they make sense, right?

The same may happen in your first chapter. If you’re the type of writer like I am, I already know the plot and maybe already have several scenes planned out. But do I know how to actually start the book? Sometimes. For example, with Dissecting House, I didn’t know how to start the book until later in the planning process.

So, how do you write a fluff-free first chapter? Novelists have an advantage over web writers — web writers are often on a tight deadline (I’m talking about one to three days) whereas novelists have more flexibility. Make the most out of this time to plan and edit your novel.

You should also ask for help when you can. If you can’t find a beta reader, ask someone to read the first chapter. If you can’t afford an editor, ask an editor to read the first chapter (I’ve found editors who read the first chapter or the first few pages for free). Ask your readers if they will continue reading your book. From here, you’ll be able to gauge the effectiveness of your first chapter.

Write for a Skimming Reader

Unfortunately, the modern reader is finicky. Thanks to social media, the average person has a short attention span. When reading, they want the action and they want it now.

Web writers are trained to write for a digital audience. And novelists should also write for a web audience (even if they’re reading a print book).

The modern reader prefers to skim read. The Guardian even went as far to say that skim reading is the new normal. Love it or hate it, this is the audience writers have to cater to.

But have readers just suddenly flourished into skimming readers? I’ve always skimmed over the boring parts of a book. I’ve even talked to friends who said they skip pages of books completely. We all have short attention spans and we immediately want to get to the good stuff.

So, how do you write for a skimming reader? Here are your methods of madness: write short sentences and structure your work into short paragraphs.

This structure helps readers easily skim your work, getting to the parts they want. And writing this way helps the editing process drastically. You can better identify fluff since it’s not camouflaged in the middle of a huge paragraph.

Be Specific

When I write, I tend to struggle conveying what’s going on in my head. I have a nice, little world where my characters live.

How do I express that to readers? Hm, I dunno. Maybe I can come up with something random and unrelated to the actual scene I’m describing. For example, I can write an internal monologue for Mina about how much she hates Dr. Lukman (even though Dissecting House readers already know she hates him).

Stay on topic. Be specific — but you don’t have to go too deep into detail. Just describe the setting, what the characters are doing, and use enough language to where your readers get a visual but still doesn’t distract them from the story.

Sounds difficult, right? Well, it is.

Writers tend to over over-analyze a scene, distracting the reader from what’s actually happening. Or they use fewer details — and then the reader is lost.

As a writer, I’ve suddenly became the second example. I focus on getting right to the point, but there are times when I don’t even know what the point is and how to describe it.

The solution? Plan. Plan. Plan!

However you decide to outline your piece, just plan it out however you want. I start with a breakdown of the story, my characters, and setting (if important). Then, I plan chapter-by-chapter. I refer back to my notes during every phase of the writing process — from the first draft to my final edits.

Avoid Ranting

No — you, the writer, aren’t ranting. But the characters? Tell them to stop. Just because ranting made Holden Caulfield famous doesn’t mean your characters should rant every other page.

To us, our characters are real people. They have personalities, likes and dislikes, interests, and other unique characteristics that make them more of a person. While some readers may care about these details, the majority of your readers only care about the story.

Stick to the story and how your characters impact the book. Only include their opinions and other minor details if it’s important to the overall story.